Aaron Beam was a co-founder of the company HealthSouth, a healthcare company based in Birmingham, Alabama. HealthSouth was founded in 1984 and quickly became a leader in the healthcare industry, providing a range of services including rehabilitation, diagnostic imaging, and surgery.
However, in 2002, it was revealed that the company was engaged in a massive accounting fraud, in which top executives, including Beam, had been inflating the company's financial results for years. The fraud was uncovered after an anonymous tip led to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As a result of the fraud, HealthSouth's stock price plummeted and the company was forced to restate its financial results, leading to huge losses for shareholders. Beam was charged with securities fraud and eventually pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He was sentenced to three years in prison and was ordered to pay $2 million in fines and restitution.
The HealthSouth scandal had far-reaching consequences, not only for the company and its employees, but for the healthcare industry as a whole. It brought attention to the issue of corporate fraud and the need for better corporate governance and oversight.
In the years since the scandal, Beam has spoken out about his role in the fraud and has expressed remorse for his actions. He has also become an advocate for corporate responsibility and has written and spoken extensively about the importance of integrity in business.
Overall, the story of Aaron Beam and HealthSouth is a cautionary tale about the dangers of corporate greed and the importance of honesty and integrity in business. It serves as a reminder that even those at the top of successful companies can make mistakes and the consequences can be severe.
Aaron Beam: ‘I think my dog still loves me’
I had to pay restitution, and I needed a job and nobody would hire me. Here are some excerpts from that conversation: 'Here I am 64, and I am mowing lawns again' Beam, who got started on the lecture circuit in late 2008, says it was his wife, Phyllis, who persuaded him that he had a story that was worth telling and that there were people who wanted and needed to hear it. That is my legacy. But it doesn't work like that. Aaron provides wisdom on when and how to blow the whistle. Amato: What were some of the things that HealthSouth did under your watch that helped keep that momentum going, whether it was false or not? Beam: I did get my right to vote, but there's two things that you lose, your right to vote and right to own a gun.
Former HealthSouth CFO warns of the dangers of an ethics meltdown
He has spoken to student audiences as a guest lecturer at many business schools Univ. State, and over 70 others. Amato: You've said that you still have grave concerns about what's happening on Wall Street. What can I do if I am working at a company and I see fraudulent activity? You can become obsessed with getting that stock price up, not just to please Wall Street, but to fatten your own personal wealth. What do you do to build a strong ethical company? We had almost a conceptual problem of explaining, and all the explaining in the world wouldn't do it, you had to show a bottom-line profit.
Accordingly, G3CFO LLC, the publisher of CFO Bookshelf, is a participant in affiliate programs including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Amato: Any parting words for a CFO or controller or any other finance professional out there who's confronted with the potential to commit fraud? Beam served three months in prison after agreeing to plead guilty to fraud. Amato: You mentioned universities and what they're doing. Also, Thursday at 5:30 p. I had a condo in the French Quarter, which I owned.
Former CFO Aaron Beam Revisits the HealthSouth Accounting Fraud
I think it's getting better, but I still think a lot of things go on in Wall Street that are really, really scary. MarketWatch: Would you consider yourself an ambitious person? Don't succumb to the pressure of fudging the numbers up or doing something that's not good accounting. Aaron Beam served three months in prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud. Aaron did not disappoint, and I appreciate that he tends to feast on non-business books. When that day comes and they're faced with making the decision to go along with the fraud or participate in a fraud, they will know what to do.
Former HealthSouth CFO Aaron Beam tells UL audience: 'We all can fall into committing fraud'
When the fraud did come to light in 2003, it stunned the nation. That's the thing we did. If you were asked to cook the books, would you? And one day it will get you in trouble. MarketWatch: Did you go to prison? Aaron especially likes history, and one of his recent reads is These Truths by Jill Laporte. MarketWatch: An easier read than the accounts at HealthSouth.
From the archives: Lessons learned after a multibillion
I want to be a good employee. I thought I'd really messed up because I became very emotional. I told him, no. When you see her on my website, in my presentation or as the signature on my emails, please realize she is reminding you and me to be ethical. I have a daughter, 39, and grandson who is 18 months old.
There are only about 1,500 New York Stock Exchange companies. Our center was profitable very early on, and we were venture-capital-backed. His degree was in economics. You might win in the short run, but in the long run, you're not going to succeed. I think things are getting better in general because there's been such a huge amount of attention paid to it because of Enron, HealthSouth, the subprime debacle.
I was afraid of going to prison. Beam: They wanted to be sure to go public that we had a good model that would create profits well into the future. MarketWatch: How has your family been through this? You own a lot of the stock. Beam: I came forward and admitted I had been involved. That's a big deal. I knew we had the potential to go a long way with our company.
Aaron Beam Speaker Pricing and Availability from AEI Speakers Bureau
At meetings, at conventions, they stress ethics is on their agenda. A lot of kids coming out of college now, they're not as eager to go to Wall Street as they were in the past. Amato: You decide to leave and you move south to Mobile. Siegelman, and sentenced to 82 months; he served 60 months. Beam was the first CFO at Healthsouth Corp. I've never been a gun person, so the fact that I can't own a gun doesn't bother me. The last non-business book that Aaron mentioned looked so good, that I bought the Audible edition and will start listening to it immediately.
